


On the Gallows

by MerlinWinchestr



Category: Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
Genre: Episode: s01e01 Will You Tolerate This?, Hanging, TW: Near-death experience, TW: hanging, Whumptober 2020, no. 1 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26762122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerlinWinchestr/pseuds/MerlinWinchestr
Summary: Why couldn’t Allan have just kept his mouth shut for once in his life? Maybe then he wouldn’t be spending his last night with complete strangers in a tiny cell.
Kudos: 6





	On the Gallows

**Author's Note:**

> **Category:** Gen  
>  **Rating:** T  
>  **Characters:** Allan-a-Dale  
>  **Warnings:** Hanging, near-death experience  
>  **Setting:** 1X01 _Will You Tolerate This?_  
>  **Prompt:** Whumptober 2020 No. 1-Hanging  
>  **Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

# On the Gallows

Why couldn’t he have just kept his mouth shut for once in his life? His mum had always said his tongue would be the death of him, and now he was proving her right. That was not a conversation he was looking forward to having, providing they ended up in the same place. Which, truth be told, was probably not going to happen based after how he had lived his life.

Why hadn’t he just let things be? Sure their was still a high probability that he would have been hung at some point anyhow, especially with this sheriff, but at east he would have had time to make another plan. Instead, he had opened his big mouth and now he was spending his last night on earth with these complete strangers in a tiny cell.

Well, he had never expected to die among friends anyhow. 

“Robin will save us, won’t he Will?” the kid—Luke, he thinks is his name—asked. “He won’t let us hang.” 

His brother—Bill? Will?—didn’t reply. Instead, he simply wrapped his arm around his little brother and pulled him close, his eyes straight ahead. How he thought staying silent was comforting , Allan wasn’t sure. A lie would be better, kinder even. He opened his mouth to say as such, but a warning glare from Will cut him off. 

“Did I mention why I was chucked in here with you lot, Benny boy?” he asked instead, directing the question at the final occupant of the cell. 

Benedict blinked, surprised out of his melancholy stupor. Allan raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response. 

“N-no.” the boy sniffed.

“Well,” Allan drawled, ignoring the Will’s glare. “It all started a few days ago. A couple of the sheriff’s men had caught me and were going to take my hand—unfairly, I might add. I was just trying to feed my poor pregnant wife.”

“You don’t have a wife.” Will cut in. 

“When your Robin jumped in and stopped them,” he continued, sending a glare at Will. “So when I found myself arrested—unfairly yet again. My poor wife must be worried sick—”

“Still no wife.” 

“So I found myself arrested and then I see Robin. And I thought maybe he could me out again.”

Benedict’s shoulders slumped. “But now you’re here with us, scheduled to hang.”

“Maybe,” Allan conceded. “But maybe not. The way I figure, if your Robin of Locksley was willing to stick his neck out for a bloke he didn’t even know, then surely he’ll do everything in his power to help three he does know.”

The last part he directed to young Luke, who was staring at him eyes wide and hopeful. The two boys took his words to heart and visibly relaxed, their faith in their Robin restored. Within the hour, the two would fall into an, if not restful, at least a deep sleep. Luke leaned his head against his brother’s shoulder, but Will didn’t look down. Instead, he stared at Allan with a look that showed confusion, as if questioning why he had tried to cheer up the two boys. Allan just shrugged and closed his eyes as he leaned back against the wall. 

If only his lies weren’t so easy to believe. By the next morning, even Allan was secretly holding out that this Robin bloke would pull off a miracle and get them all out of this one. But then the hour arrived and they were being yanked out of their cell and led to the waiting gallows. Benedict was sobbing while Luke frantically looked around, hope draining as he spotted Robin standing passively beside the sheriff. Will’s face was blank, revealing nothing. As for Allan, he couldn’t focus on anything beyond the noose that gently swung in the breeze. 

His legs shook as he was forced up and onto the stool, his hands roughly bound behind him. His fingers were num, though that was soon to be the least of his problems. The crowd was silent, staring up at them with weary faces that were full of pity and gratitude that it wasn’t anyone they cared for on the gallows. Allan tore his gaze away as they stepped forward with the hood. If he was going to die, he refused to let the last thing he saw be the grimy faces of these people he didn’t even know. He had just caught a glimpse of blue sky when the hood was roughly pulled over his head.

It was all he could do to keep from gagging as the unwashed sack obscured his vision. He started to hold his breath, but gasped as the noose was slipped over his head and tightened around his neck. Suddenly, he was taking in deep breathes, uncaring the rancid odor of the sack. Dimly, he heard a familiar voice talking loudly, but his focus was completely on the noose around his neck. 

And then the stool was gone and he was hanging, his feet desperately kicking for a floor that was not there. He desperately tried to gasp for air, but the noose only tightened around his throat, cutting his airway off and leaving him choking. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, the blood pounding in his ears and overshadowing every other sound. His feet kicked as black began to crowd his vision and the filtered light in the sack started to vanish. 

The rope went slack and he hit the ground hard, the impact shocking him out of the black. The rope was slack and suddenly he could breathe again. Chest heaving, he sucked in as much air as he possibly could, his throat screaming at the strain. For a moment, he simply laid there, breathing hard and resisting the urge to simply curl up and never move again. But then hands were grasping at him, pulling him off the gallows and slipping the noose and sack from his head. He blinked in the sunlight, his vision clearing to show the grimy faces of the people he didn’t know alive with excitement. Someone freed his hands and he could have kissed them, but the hands were shoving him away and toward the open and unguarded gate. 

He stumbled, wincing as the blood rushed back into his hands and feet. He took a precious moment to glance around and early stumbled again when he saw a familiar face. Robin stood on the steps, bow in hand fighting several large guards. He must have stopped, though he wasn’t aware of it, because hands were suddenly shoving him forward again and a voice hissed “Go you fool!”

Allan did as he was told and ran for the open gate. In front of him, he saw Benedict and Luke racing out of the gate with an older man he didn’t know. None of the three stopped to look back at the chaos that was overtaking the square as the people shoved themselves between the exit and the guards, with some physically fighting back. Allan shoved his shoulder into a guard as he broke free of the crowd and raced to the gate. Beyond it, he could see the path out of the city, wide open and leading to freedom. 

He stopped. And then he looked back. He was vaguely aware of Will and the not-priest close by, but his eyes were locked on the courtyard. They could only watch as an archer drew a bead on Robin, who simply raised his arms in defeat. The archer draw back and Allan’s breath caught in his throat, realizing that this man had saved his life twice only to pay for it with his own. 

And then the archer staggered, the arrow narrowing missing Robin’s head. And then Robin was at the gate along with another man he recognized from the night before. The crowd was making their own escape and Allan wasted no time in following the other men. He hesitated briefly when they reached two saddled horses, but he quickly climbed up behind Will. He barely had his seat when the younger an spurred the horse around and went charging behind Robin directly at the guards now blocking their only escape. 

He tried to shout, to beg to be let off the horse, but he could only croak out a rough yelp before they were jumping straight over the guards. Arrows flew around but, miraculously, none found their marks. It felt as if they flew for hours, but only a few seconds passed before the horses’ hooves hit the ground and they were galloping away into the forest. 

It wasn’t until they had slowed to a walk deep in the forest that Allan realized he hadn’t run. The path had been wide open, he could have easily made his own escape and been long gone before the guards ever looked his way. But he had stopped. Over Will’s shoulder, he could see Robin and his friend—Much, he recalled—arguing, though he couldn’t mate out the words. He started at Robin, trying to figure this nobleman out. Why had he risked his life, forsaken his lands and title, for four men he barely knew? 

“Are you listening to me?” Will’s voice broke through his thoughts.

“Yeah, of course.” Allan lied, wincing as his throat protested the usage. 

“I asked where should we let you go?” Will’s voice was hoarse, but unfairly clear all things considered.

“Oh,” Allan fumbled silently cursing the entire day. He was usually a much faster thinker than this. “It doesn’t really matter, I guess.” 

“What about your wife?” 

“What wife?” 

The words were already out of his mouth before he realized his mistake. Even though he couldn’t see the younger man’s face, he knew Will was smirking. 

“I knew it.” 

They fell into a surprisingly companionable silence for the next mile or so. Finally, Robin slowed his horse and turned to face them. He looked at Will, prepared to say something, but the younger man cut him off before he could say anything.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Robin frowned, but nodded. Then he turned to Allan. 

“You didn’t ask for this,” Robin said. “This isn’t your fight. There will be no hard feelings if you want to leave.” 

There it was. His out. He could walk away and never think twice about Nottingham ever again. He could go back to wandering from town to town, making money however he could. He could pretend that none of this had ever happened. He could run. But…

“If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll stick around for a while.” 

Robin’s eyebrows raised in surprise, but a slight grin spread across his mouth as well. The man nodded and dismounted, the others following suit. Letting Much take the reins, Robin threw his arms out and motioned toward the empty woods around them. 

“Welcome to Sherwood, men.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **Author's Note:** It has been a very long time since I last wrote for this fandom; it was nice to dip my toes back in! I hope you enjoyed this little foray into the first episode. Allan is my favorite character, but I've always wondered why he stuck around instead of running, especially after literally being hung. I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
